Car of slain student's husband found in Mexico

2:47 p.m. EST, October 14, 2010|FOX 5 San Diego Staff

SAN DIEGO —

Tijuana police Thursday found the car of a man suspected of murdering his estranged wife on the campus of City College.

The blue Ford Mustang with California license plate 6GKA572 was found on a street in Colonia Francisco Villa and has been turned over to U.S. authorities, according to Tijuana Municipal police. Police on both sides of the border have been searching for the car and its owner, 37-year-old Armando Perez, since his estranged wife's body was discovered in a men's restroom at City College Tuesday night.

Perez has at least one relative who lives in the Tijuana area and police say he may have fled across the border after the killing. San Diego police have asked Baja California law enforcement agencies to continue searching for the suspect. He was described as a 5 foot, 9 inches tall, Hispanic, weighing approximately 165 lbs.

Police said Gonzalez and Perez had been married about 10 months and have a 9-month-old girl. The couple separated earlier this year, and Gonzalez's relatives had been driving her to and from school out of concern that her husband might try to harm her, Collins said.

Last month, Gonzalez filed a police report accusing Perez of kidnapping her from the college and repeatedly assaulting her while holding her captive in motel rooms for several days, the captain said. The husband was jailed but District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis' office declined to file charges and he was released from custody following four days later, according to San Diego police.

Gonzalez recently obtained a restraining order against her husband, but it had not yet been served on him at the time of her death, police Capt. Jim Collins told reporters Wednesday during a late-afternoon briefing outside downtown SDPD headquarters.

Anyone with information on Perez' whereabouts has been asked to call the San Diego Police Department or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.